{"id":12766,"date":"2023-11-13T18:04:24","date_gmt":"2023-11-13T23:04:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/?p=12766"},"modified":"2023-11-13T18:05:22","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T23:05:22","slug":"ways-to-combat-food-insecurity-in-your-local-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/ways-to-combat-food-insecurity-in-your-local-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Ways to Combat Food Insecurity in your Local Community"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\">Written by: Jake <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\">Edited by: Julia Georgescu<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\">Designed by: Fatima Khan<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\">Published by: Maryam Khan<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\"><b>What is Food Insecurity?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-12767 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/unnamed-1-300x200.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"263\" height=\"175\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/unnamed-1-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/unnamed-1.png 509w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 263px) 100vw, 263px\" \/>Food insecurity is defined as having inadequate access to\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\">food. Although many may think the issue only effects\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\">developing countries, it\u2019s very much prevalent in\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\">first-world countries like Canada. A new report was done by\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\">Food Banks Canada showed that 18% of the population is<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\">\u00a0suffering from food insecurity.\u00a0 A previous report released last year showed an all-time high of food bank visits, with 1.5 million Canadians Resorting to food banks in March 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\"><b>Health Effects of Food Insecurity<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\">People living in food-insecure households are subject to many health problems, including heart disease, hypertension, poor oral health, and chronic pain. Food insecurity also makes it hard for those with health conditions to afford proper treatments and medications. Almost half of adults living in food-insecure households report delaying, skipping, or reducing prescription medications. Mental health also takes a toll. The likelihood of depression, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and suicidal thoughts is substantially higher in food-insecure homes. Food insecurity among children has been linked to hyperactivity and inattention.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\"><b>Causes of Food Insecurity:<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-12768 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/unnamed-2-300x208.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"270\" height=\"187\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/unnamed-2-300x208.png 300w, https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/unnamed-2-510x355.png 510w, https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/unnamed-2.png 512w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 270px) 100vw, 270px\" \/><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\">Unemployment and low wages<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\">Lack of affordable housing<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\">Lack of affordable childcare<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\">Systemic racism<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\"><b>Ways to Combat Food Insecurity in Your Community:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\"><b>Volunteer at Food Banks<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Food banks directly fight food insecurity by offering food to the needy. There are many volunteer positions to take on at food banks.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\"><b>Organize or Donate to Food Drives: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Donating non-perishable food items through food drives is a great way to fight food insecurity. You can reach out to family and friends to collect food items from them as well. Some nutritious and non-perishable foods you can donate are canned tuna or salmon, canned chicken, and canned fruits and vegetables.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\"><b>Hold a Virtual Food Drive: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A virtual food drive is where online monetary donations are collected to support food banks.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\"><b>Start a fundraiser: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A fundraiser is a great way to get the community together and support a good cause. Some ideas include bake sales, t-shirt sales, and garage sales.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\"><b>Reduce Food Waste: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted globally. The majority of the food wasted comes from food service providers that throw away excess food. We should urge those corporations to donate the excess to food banks or shelters.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\"><b>Food Insecurity Among Indigenous Communities<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;\">It\u2019s worth noting that poverty and food insecurity effects indigenous communities disproportionately more, due to systemic and historic discrimination. Wild food becomes less secure due to the loss of land rights, and they are often unable to afford healthy food at supermarkets, due to living in low-income homes. Residential schools are one of the factors to blame, since their cultural knowledge and traditions were erased, such as hunting and food preparation knowledge.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>References<\/b><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/9985761\/food-insecurity-poverty-report-canada\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/9985761\/food-insecurity-poverty-report-canada\/<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/proof.utoronto.ca\/food-insecurity\/what-are-the-implications-of-food-insecurity-for-health-and-health-care\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What are the implications of food insecurity for health and health care? &#8211; PROOF (utoronto.ca)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/borgenproject.org\/indigenous-food-insecurity-in-canada\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/borgenproject.org\/indigenous-food-insecurity-in-canada\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.livekindly.com\/food-insecurity-how-can-we-help\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/www.livekindly.com\/food-insecurity-how-can-we-help\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodrx.com\/well-being\/diet-nutrition\/help-with-food-insecurity\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fight Food Insecurity: Options Beyond Helping at Food Kitchens &#8211; GoodRx<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Food insecurity is defined as having inadequate access to\u00a0food. Although many may think the issue only effects\u00a0developing countries, it\u2019s very much prevalent in\u00a0first-world countries like Canada.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12766"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12766"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12771,"href":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12766\/revisions\/12771"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}